I started a Back-to-School No-Spend Month Challenge last Friday, and over 150 of our retirement plan and financial wellness participants are joining me in this challenge!
A no-spend is an incredible way to break spending patterns, reveal the lies that we have to buy that trendy outfit now on TikTok shop, or that any spending whim can and should be added to an Amazon cart.
I am sharing our first week’s “How To” and personal reflection here.
How can I set myself up for success?
Plan ahead. Food is probably the biggest expense other than bills that come up in a month, and it’s too easy to swipe a badge in the cafeteria or run through a drive-through. Be prepared to be successful. Think through the meals you and your family will need and figure out how to prep food so that you don’t find yourself at 6 pm on a Tuesday with no idea what you will eat.
I have several go-tos for the nights we have no plan or ingredients for full meals:
Quesadillas: Tortillas and cheddar cheese always on hand!
Bean burritos: Tortillas, cheese, beans. Check!
I also keep broccoli bags or carrots and celery on hand. Broccoli can steam in the microwave in seconds or raw carrots and celery can be added to make a meal healthy.
Have some easy meals that don’t require a lot of preparation or cooking to make your life easy. Crockpots are my best friend. Here are my family friendly meal go-tos:
Chicken tortilla soup (crockpot) – keep the cans on hand and have chicken breasts or thighs ready in the freezer to dump in the crockpot. This is a crockpot dump so no additional cooking necessary.
Cuban beans and rice (crockpot) – keep onions on hand and don’t forget the beans need to soak overnight. This is a crockpot dump so no additional cooking necessary.
Spaghetti (keep the sauce and noodles in the pantry and the meat in the freezer – thaw that morning!)
Rice and eggs- Keep rice on hand. Cook up 2 cups of rice and then put in a large plan. Make a hole in the middle and add 4 eggs and fry up in oil. Then mix with rice. Separately you can sauté chopped up veggies and add meat like chicken or brats to add.
The point is to have your go-to meals and have the ingredients on hand at ALL Times. Remember, we aren’t buying lunch anymore, so also think through sandwiches or leftovers that everyone can take to work and school.
What should I be paying attention to over the month?
The lies the brain tells us to try to convince us to spend. Remember you are saying no multiple times a day to spending. Your brain will be forced to find alternatives to that spending. Write down your wants and try to add the compelling story your brain is trying to use to convince you to spend. Then write down how you said no or found an alternative to that expense.
Since Friday, here is what popped up:
Little Caesars: My kids wanted me to drive through on the way home from school to celebrate the end of their first week. I promised them quesadillas, and we had a picnic. The lie: My kids deserve something special after their first week, and the only way to make it special is to buy something. The truth: We can make something special without buying anything. Savings: $16
Yoga class: I occasionally drop in on a yoga class after a long run. Instead of paying for that, I took a free class on YouTube and felt great. The lie: If I don’t do this yoga class after I run a long way then I could get injured. The truth: I can do a yoga class on YouTube from my home. Savings: $20
Spontaneous Amazon Gift for my nephew: My daughter decided we needed to buy a dump truck for my 2-year-old nephew. He loves construction equipment. The lie: The way we can make my nephew happy is to buy him a dump truck. The truth: He loves playing with us, without a dump truck. Savings: $19
Middle School Dance fee: I just got an email from the school that it is $16 to attend the middle school dance. I decided to send the Venmo and allow him to attend. Is it a lie that I think my kid should be able to attend the dance? Maybe. I am having him pay for it. I transferred the $16 from his Greenlight account to my parent wallet.
The no-spend kicked off less than 3 days ago. We have not spent $55, and everyone in the family is still pretty happy. The $16 for the middle school dance is borderline. What do you think? Is that a necessary expense or a brain lie?
Either way, Brain, you are a dirty rotten LIAR. We needed to be reminded of that. You told us we needed to buy those things to be happy. We didn’t buy most of them. We are happy.
What can I be DOING?
We have homework each week, and I recommend taking this one week at a time.
My family and I agreed to put our savings into an account, and we will enjoy some of it to celebrate the end of the no-spend month.
Week 1: Get your accounts set up this week for your savings, and let’s do a bill review.
Here are a few ideas for accounts:
Elevault: This is an app provided by Southern Bancorp1 that allows you to set up FDIC-insured savings vaults that currently are paying a 4.5% interest rate! Set up your first vault and name it your savings goal, whether it’s using this no-spend to get a head start on an emergency fund or vacation. Each week, transfer over your savings.
High-yield savings: Or open a high-yield savings account at a bank like American Express or Ally Bank. Go to your company HR and give them the account and routing number, and set up a second deposit into that account. Again, just $25 or $50 you might not even notice, but over time it will add up.
Next, I want you to go through your credit card and debit card transactions. Anything that is a recurring bill I want you to vet your usage of that expense. Is it a gym membership draft? Do you use it? If not, either start using it this month or cancel it! Is it one of those mysterious Apple charges? Go to your phone, click on settings, click on your photo, and go to “Subscriptions.” All of those Apple charges will be listed out. You will likely find one to many recurring monthly or annual subscriptions that you might have forgotten about that you can cancel! Rinse and repeat. Do the work this week to cancel all those recurring expenses that you no longer use or just don’t derive any happiness from. Every dollar you find in saved bills gets to go toward something you WANT, like vacations, a down payment for a house, or buying your next car. Think about whether you can cancel enough bills to even put enough money in your work retirement account to be able to retire one day!
After you add up your cancelled bills and subscriptions, take the next step to allocate that money to either your savings accounts that you just set up or your retirement account.
If you want any of the materials for this No-Spend Challenge to start on your own, email us, and we can help you get started.
1. Aptus serves as the financial advisor to the Southern Bancorp 401(k) plan.